Often Irreverent, Mostly Rational Blog for Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. One Day, We'll Be Perfect.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Mutiny! Uprising! Unrest!

It seems as though the players in the clubhouse have had the same frustrations as us with their manager.

Rather suddenly, a bucketload of reports have come out indicating that the players have had just about enough of Cito Gaston, and are determined to see him turfed out on his keester at the season's conclusion. And if any member of the Blue Jays' playing roster is reading this, we say to you: RISE UP! Get him out of there now! YOU HAVE THE POWER!

We had a sinking feeling that it had become an inevitability that Cito would be back, as the senior management brain trust wouldn't feel like they could shitcan such a living legend, and because they couldn't conceive of how this craptastic season could be Cito's fault.

But now that the players have started an off-the-record campaign to demonstrate their displeasure, we hope and pray that this might just be enough to end Cito's reign of oblivious ineffectiveness and unconscious ineffectiveness.

38 comments:

"If they're unhappy, they have to look at themselves, because I certainly treated everybody in a way that I'd like to be treated as a player and how I'd like my manager to treat me. If they're grumbling, they're grumbling because they didn't do their jobs. They had opportunities."

Well, way to take even an iota of responsibility Cito, for fuck sakes.

... Sweep it clean, Beeston, JP, Cito and anyone who sticks to Cito. The "Player's Manager" title was bullshit, and those who sold it to us should be ashamed of themselves. It was something we held onto through the lack of on field moves.

For the season to end like this is just about unbearable. I hope they are all gone before the end of the ALDS.

I think it's hard to imagine Overbay as ring leader (assuming there is one), but he's among a number of good reasons why this should happen.I'd be down with firing joe morgan too - now there is a cause I could behind.

There is no reason for Accardo not to be considered for closer once Ryan went down. None. I'd say he did a fine job in 2007, good enough to close on most teams, and certainly good enough to warrant a considerable look two years later.

From Wilner's post "I couldn’t do anything with the story because no one would agree to go on the record with me, but never in the time that I’ve been covering this team have I seen clubhouse discontent like this."

What do you mean, Overbay has had a good season? He'd be in the bottom third of everyday first basemen if he was an everyday first baseman, but he almost always got the platoon advantage so he should have been much better.

Overbay's not exactly a problem for the Jays this year. He's 7th in the AL in OPS against RHP for 1B (923). Ahead of some scrub named Morneau.

It's irrelevant how he does against LHP, because he shouldn't be facing them. Bautista should be facing all lefties for Overbay, especially considering the fact he's (Bautista) got a 936 OPS against them.

Does that annoy anyone else? Has that become a normal way to do things in sports?

I don't think it's the right way to deal with someone you have a problem with. I'm as frustrated as anyone with Cito's lineup choices and handling of the bullpen but he deserves to be treated better than having a bunch of pussies call Wilner over "in hushed tones" and bitch.

I don't know, maybe that is an appropriate way to deal with things in baseball now. And hell, maybe the players did talk to Cito, J.P. and Beeston themselves and this was their last resort.

What do you expect Dave? That they're going to let Cito have it publicly?

Of course they won't.

But this has been simmering for a while. Overbay has said in a few interviews that he's found the playing time issue frustrating, because he doesn't feel like he can get in a groove. Snider was frustrated at how much tutelage he was getting. Accardo was frustrated with being jerked around.

The players probably see the same thing we do every night, and ask themselves why Cito refuses to put his best lineup in on most nights, preferring to take some notional longview of the situation that just doesn't seem to acknowledge the importance of each night's game.

Maybe if the team was managed a little more aggressively, they get four or five more wins this season. To guys who are as competitive as pro athletes, those four or five wins matter, even if they don't result in a playoff spot or a record above .500.

There was some indication of Overbay's unhappiness earlier in the season in a Jays pre-game interview with Howarth or Wilner (can't remember which right now), about being frustrated about being platooned. But he just said it's out of his hands.

Torgen - Overbay may be 7th, but when the #1 guy has a 966 OPS, the #4/5 guy has a 940 OPS and Overbay has a 923 OPS vs RHP...it's not a huge difference. It's not like the #1 guy has a 1.00 OPS and Overbay's sitting at 800 vs RHP. If you try to upgrade there, it's a marginal upgrade at best and it'll cost more than it's worth to add .020-.040 points of OPS just to be in the top 2-3 spots.